List of English words of Niger-Congo origin

This is a list of English language words that come from any of the Sub-Saharan African languages. It excludes placenames except where they have become common words.

• aardvark - Afrikaans word, meaning earth (or ground) pig
• apartheid - Afrikaans policy of separate development/living
• banana - West African, possibly Wolof banana
• banjo - probably Bantu mbanza
• basenji- breed of dog from the Congo
• biltong - from Afrikaans - cured meat (often used in South African English)
• bongo - West African boungu
• braai - from Afrikaans - barbecue (often used in South African English)
• buckra - from Efik and Ibibio mbakara "master"
• bwana - from swahili
• chachacha possibly from Kimbundu, onomatopoeia for ringing bells or rattles worn around the legs of a female dancers.
• chigger - possibly from Wolof and Yoruba jiga "insect")
• chimpanzee - from a Bantu language, possibly Tshiluba kivili-chimpenze
• cola - from West African languages (Temne kola, Mandinka kolo)
• coffee - disputed; either from the Ethiopian region/Kingdom of Kaffa, where coffee originated, or Arabic kahwa
• conga - feminized form of Congo through Spanish
• dengue - possibly from Swahili dinga
• djembe from West African languages [2]
• fandango- possibly from the kikongo empire[3]
• Geranuk - Somali: Gerenuk means "giraffe-necked" in the Somali language
• gnu - from Bushman !nu through Hottentot i-ngu and Dutch gnoe
• goober - possibly from Bantu (Kikongo and Kimbundu nguba)
• gumbo - from Bantu (Kimbundu ngombo meaning "okra")
• indaba - from Xhosa or Zulu languages - 'meeting' (often used in South African English)
• jambalaya possibly from tshiluba
• jamboree possibly from swahili "jambo".
• jazz - from West African languages (Mandinka jasi, Temne yas)
• jive - possibly from Wolof jev
• jumbo - from Swahili (jambo or jumbe or from Kongo nzamba "elephant")
• juju - Yoruba
• juke, jukebox - possibly from Wolof and Bambara dzug through Gullah
• kalimba
• Kwanzaa - from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits".
• kwashiorkor - from Ga language, Coastal Ghana meaning "swollen stomach"
• impala - from Zulu im-pala
• lapa - from Sotho languages - enclosure or barbecue area (often used in South African English)
• macaque - from Bantu makaku through Portuguese and French
• mamba - from Zulu or Swahili mamba
• mambo - possibly West African through Haitian Creole
• marimba - from Bantu (Kimbundu and Swahili marimba, malimba)
• marimbula
• merengue (dance) possibly from Fulani mererek i meaning to shake or quiver
• mumbo jumbo - uncertain West African etymology
• mojo - from Fula moco'o "medicine man" through Louisiana Creole French or Gullah
• obeah - from West African (Efik ubio, Twi ebayifo)
• okra - from Igbo ókùrù
• okapi - from a language in the Congo
• safari - from Swahili travel, ultimately from Arabic
• samba from an African language through Brazilian Portuguese [4][5], carnaval website
• sambo - Fula sambo meaning "uncle"
• sangoma - from Zulu - traditional healer (often used in South African English)
• tango - probably from Ibibio tamgu
• tsetse - from a Bantu language (Tswana tsetse, Luhya tsiisi)
• trek - from Afrikaans - move (often used in South African English)
• ubuntu - Bantu languages
• voodoo - from West African languages (Ewe and Fon vodu "spirit")
• yam - West African (Fula nyami, Twi anyinam)
• zebra - possibly from a language in the Congo
• zombie - Central African (Kikongo zumbi, Kimbundu nzambi)

Dajuan Lowe made this

See also

• List of Spanish words of African origin

References

• Online Etymology Dictionary

• Common words of african origin-William Megenney, University of California, Riverside